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All Rise...

Appellate Judge Mac McEntire's pulse is rising at the thought of Kristen Bell in a bathtub.

The Charge

Do you want to meet a ghost?

Opening Statement

Remakes, remakes, remakes. This one is an American take on Kiyoshi Kurosawa's
2001 film, Pulse (Kairo), a subtle, slow-paced
Japanese horror film that explores isolation and loneliness as much as it does
supernatural freakiness. At one point, horror maestro Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream) was set to direct the remake, but
things changed during pre-production, as they so often do. Craven ended up with
a co-writer credit, with relative newcomer Jim Sonzero (War of the
Angels) taking over directing duties. So is it a frightening exploration of
technology gone wrong, or is its pulse weak?

Facts of the Case

Mattie (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars), a college student, is dealing
with the sudden and tragic death of someone close to her. In an attempt to
understand what happened, she tracks down his missing laptop, now owned by a
would-be hacker, Dexter (Ian Somerhalder, Lost). Not only are there
strange and frightening images on the computer, but Mattie and her friends start
seeing similar ghostlike images in the shadows, following them around.

As time progresses, there are more and more suicides and unexplained deaths
occurring wherever Mattie goes. She and Dexter know they have to do something,
anything, to do put an end to this madness before it gets too far out of
control.

The Evidence

So, the idea here is, "technology as horror." During the first
third of the movie we're treated to a lot of story bits where characters
continually talk on their cell phones, text message each other in class, and
joke around about obsessively viewing Internet porn. This is supposed to set up
a feeling of isolation; that people are only connecting with their machines, and
not with another. It's the thought of "Why talk to someone else when it's
so much easier to send an e-mail?" Unfortunately, the sense of isolation
that these themes require us to see on screen just isn't palatable enough.
Mattie's closeness with her friends comes across as genuine, as do her feelings
for her recently dead boyfriend. Likewise, Dexter owns the laptop with the
ghoulish images on it, but when Mattie tracks him down, he hasn't yet had time
to plug it in. I find it hard to believe that these characters are ones who
would rather lose themselves on the Internet instead of reaching out to and
communicating with their fellow human beings.

As the movie progresses, there are more and more creepy visuals, as whatever
evil exists inside the computer starts to manifest itself in "our"
reality with more frequency. This is where the movie's big visual flourishes
are, as ghostly spooks emerge from the shadow accompanied by jarring
"static" effects. Yes, we have seen stuff like this before in The Ring and its kin, but it's well captured
here. These are the cool moments, the ones horror fans will want to see (not
much in the way of gore, though), and they're certainly the movie's highlights.
The few jump scares are telegraphed a little too far in advance, though. When a
character starts walking slowly toward a dark corner, the score's violins build
in intensity as she gets closer and then—shriek!—something
grotesque jumps out at her. Except we all knew something would jump out because
we just had an extended build up with a slow walk and intense violins.

If nothing else, the movie is visually interesting in its use of color.
Almost every scene is bathed in cold blues and grays, to the point where the
whole thing almost monochromatic. I believe this is intentional, to reflect the
cold, oppressive nature of technology as represented in the film. Although it's
never really explained why, we're told that the color red can keep the restless
spirits at bay, and so it's successfully disconcerting when one or two scenes
make the sudden jolt from all blue to all red.

There's only a few fleeting references as to who these sinister spirits are,
where they come from, and what they want. That's okay—as a David Lynch
fan, I have no problem with keeping things like this mysterious—but there
are a few other logical holes here and there that might have some viewers frown
in frustration. I'm not exactly what you'd call a computer guru—I only
recently learned how to change my desktop wallpaper—but I'm guessing most
of the computer talk here is bogus. Characters are "hackers," there's
a lot of dialogue about "viruses" and "firewalls" and
"wi-fi," and there's a major plot point about "crashing the
system." I know a movie about technology is bound to have some techno-speak
in it, but I didn't buy a lot of what I heard here.

Although they're not given a whole lot to do, Kristen Bell and Ian
Somerhalder fill in nicely as our leads, looking frightened when they need to,
and stepping up and acting courageous when they need to. Samm Levine (Freaks
& Geeks), Christina Milian (Love Don't Cost a Thing), Rick
Gonzalez (Coach Carter), and Ron
Rifkin (Alias) also do fine jobs in their supporting roles.

For extras, we're treated to two commentary tracks. The first, with director
Jim Sonzero and makeup artist Gary Tunnicliffe, is rather dry, but the second, a
group commentary with producers, crew members, and actor Samm Levine is a
must-listen. The guys pick the movie apart with ruthless sarcasm, and they have
plenty of brash wisecracks for each other as well. Levine is a funny, funny guy.
Here's hoping he gets his own sitcom sometime soon. Two featurettes take a look
behind the scenes. Although interesting, they're not that detailed. The third
featurette contains interview segments with real paranormal researchers,
including the guys from that Ghost Hunters show, discussing the use of
electronics to communicate with the dead. It's a curiosity piece, but I can
certainly see some enterprising filmmaker using this as the kickoff for a
full-length documentary. Also included are some deleted and alternate scenes and
the original theatrical trailer.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Am I being too hard on this movie? At a mere 88 minutes, it moves along
quickly, gives you some cool ghosts to look at, and it has a few solid
performances. Maybe it's not brainy horror, and maybe it's not
give-you-nightmares horror, but it's an entertaining ride. If you're expecting
anything else, though, that's when you'll be disappointed.

Closing Statement

It's not bad, but Pulse just doesn't pulsate like it should.

The Verdict

I just e-mailed you the verdict. You'll know when it arrives, because all the
lights will go out and a pair of ice-cold hands will grab your neck.